A quick San Francisco real estate market update for the end of February 2012

Posted
by
on Wednesday, February 29th, 2012 at 11:23pm.

Yes, I know that this is on the other side of the GG Bridge, however as I sell real estate in both San Francisco and Marin, I thought I'd write a quick update. Here's a very important thing you should know about the SF real estate market for the first two months of 2012: things are really heating up! If you are thinking of buying or selling, please keep reading....

First, let's get the "official" report out of the way: I have the February 2012 issue of the SFAR "Market Focus Report" that I can share with you. This is a monthly analysis of the San Francisco real estate market, complete with neighborhood statistics, predictions & other useful information. If you would like this report, please email me and I will forward it to you.

The 2/12 report says that the current inventory of homes & condos for sale in the city is down by almost 33% from this time last year. This is excellent validation of what I've been telling my buyer clients in the past few weeks - unfortunately, there's just not much on the market to show them.

For my "unofficial" report, please keep reading... Here's a brief summary: if you are a buyer looking to buy in SF (or Marin for that matter also) , be prepared to pay the asking price or above; if you are a seller, now is a great time to get your property on the market.

Buyers: If you are currently a buyer who is actively shopping, going to Open Houses and tracking properties, you already probably know that the market is HOT HOT HOT right now in both SF and Marin counties! Listings are getting multiple offers and sales are closing for prices that are most often over the asking price - and some by quite a large amount, as much as 33% over the asking price.Here are some statistics for closed sales in the City for the month of February, 2012 (all data taken from the San Francisco MLS, Districts 1-10):

all single family homes sold: there were a total of 148 closed sales and 78 of them were at or over the asking price

all condominiums sold: there were a total of 113 closed sales and 60 of them were at or over the asking price (excludes TIC units)

all loft properties sold: there were a total of 13 closed sales and 6 of them were at or over the asking price

What does this mean? Basically, in San Francisco, HALF of all February closed sales sold for ASKING or OVER the asking price! If you are a buyer, you must be prepared for this. You must correctly set your expectations so that you are not spending time making offers that are not competitive. Multiple offers are getting more prevalent and listing agents are now getting back to the practice of setting a specific date to look at offers. As a buyer, you must be organized and prepared to jump right in and you MUST ALWAYS be preapproved for financing. Right now, when faced with multiple offers, listing agents and sellers are most likely to choose a cash buyer; however, if there are no cash buyers, the next likely best candidtate will be the buyer with the strongest preapproval letter from a local lender. (If you would like recommendations for local mortgage consultants, please let me know.)

Sellers: If you are a seller and you have been holding off from putting your property on the market, don't hesitate any longer. This is a great time to sell and if you prepare, price & present the property correctly, you WILL definitely get a lot of interest. I have noticed that quite a lot of last year's listings that failed to sell are now coming back on the market and selling immediately.

Just Sold! Last week my listing at 774 33rd Avenue closed after receiving five offers; we sold it for $26K OVER the asking price. I've made three offers in the past few days and in every situation, there have been multiple offers received. The key is to prepare the property so that it shows well, to price it so that it attracts the biggest number of buyer prospects, and to promote it diligently on the web and within the local agent community.

I am busy and it's great! I work full-time and every week I view the new inventory and track the closed sales. I would love to help you with either buying or selling in San Francisco or Marin, feel free to call or email me.